


A Thousand Water Lilies

by stinstin (Stina0098)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27407653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stina0098/pseuds/stinstin
Summary: Mark is walking to the village when he hears the voice.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 16
Kudos: 94





	A Thousand Water Lilies

**Author's Note:**

> in which stina listens to the same [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1GVo_ikKJU) on repeat and suddenly thinks that water lilies are the best thing since sliced bread. also trying to remind myself to keep away from long stories.
> 
> hope u enjoy!

He is walking to the village when he hears the voice.

It’s soft, barely audible, and for a second Mark thinks that he is imagining it the same way he has imagined it a thousand times before, that it’s not the sound of singing but of leaves rustling, of birds chirping deep in the forest. Then it grows clearer, almost as if the singer senses his doubts, and Mark knows that he isn’t.

And so he goes, leaving the small forest trail behind and heading deeper into the trees, following the melody until the song grows louder, until he finally reaches a clearing, the lake stretching out in front of him sparkling, painted turquoise under the golden sun. For a second the contrast of the light is blinding, but then he spots him in the water.

He’s sitting on one of the few rocks in the middle of the lake, and although the Donghyuck in his memory had seemed larger than life, he had also been a child, his cheeks round and limbs short. The Donghyuck in front of him isn’t, miles of bronze skin on display, his bare legs lean and baby fat long gone from his face.

He’s stunning, dazzlingly ethereal, and although Mark knows that sprites wear their beauty like a weapon, he finds it difficult to believe that Donghyuck could harm even the smallest of beings.

It takes him a moment to realize that he has stopped singing, that Donghyuck is gazing back at him with his lips parted, scrutinizing him the same way Mark is, noting the difference that several years could make.

For the first time in years Mark allows himself to believe that his mind isn’t playing tricks on him.

“You’re alive,” he breathes, a million different emotions running rampant inside of him but none quite as strong as the relief.

For the first time something other than amazement crosses Donghyuck’s face, his eyes narrowing slightly, the vines wrapped around the crown of his head growing stiffer.

“Why?” he wonders. “Are you going to kill me?”

Mark knows that he should, that water sprites were only beautiful until they drowned you, but he has also known the answer to Donghyuck’s question since the first time they’d met.

“No,” he says. “I would never.”

The vines around Donghyuck’s head lose their thorns, slowly budding with white flowers, and although he had seemed relaxed before, something about him softens. His eyes remain on Mark for a few long seconds before he slips off the rocks and disappears underwater.

He resurfaces closer to the shore, causing Mark to startle, the worry that the heat had gotten to his head finally disappearing.

“You look warm,” Donghyuck says, sensing his thoughts and raising one of his eyebrows. “The water is nice.”

Mark reads it like the challenge it is, that it’s Donghyuck’s way of checking if his words are true. He’d taken a risk calling Mark to him, not knowing if he would come carrying a sword, and now he wants to see if he would return it.

It’s only the years of listening to the stories of neighboring villages finding trails of their loved ones by the ocean that has him hesitating, but in the end it’s not really much of a question at all.

Mark kicks off his shoes and slowly steps into the lake, iridescent water lapping at his ankles and feet, Donghyuck waiting for him in the water the same way he had waited for him when he’d been eight; trying his best to teach Mark how to swim with a smile decorating his pink cheeks. It had only faded when Mark’s father had burst out of the forest and scooped Mark into his arms, running back to the village and ignoring Mark’s pleas to let him down.

Years had passed since then, but Mark would never forget how hopeless he’d felt when no one had believed that Donghyuck had kept him alive during the days he’d been lost in the woods, that he’d shared the berries he’d plucked from the grass and kept him safe from wild animals.

“I still can’t swim,” Mark admits, taking another step into the lake. Other than Donghyuck, no one had ever attempted to teach him, all of the villagers encouraged to stay away from large bodies of water.

Donghyuck stretches out a hand.

“That’s alright,” he says, blinking water out of his eyes. “I can.”

Mark sucks in a small breath of air, heart beating a staccato rhythm in his chest as he slips his hand into Donghyuck’s, gently pulled out into the water. It’s cool and refreshing against his skin, a contrast to the sweltering heat of the summer day, to Donghyuck’s warm hand in his.

And then they’re surrounded by lake water.

They’re further and deeper from the shore than Mark has ever been, the ground disappearing underneath his feet, and Mark stares with wide eyes as hundreds of water lilies bloom around them, budding up from the lake floor and decorating the turquoise water a myriad of colors, pinks and whites, greens and purples.

For a moment he is speechless, a surprised laugh bursting from his lips, but then his feet brush against one of the stems and he knows with certainty that they could wrap around his legs the same way the vines wrap around Donghyuck’s hair, that they could drag him down into the deep depths of the lake if Donghyuck only wanted them to.

“You could kill me,” he states, the words leaving his mouth before he has given them much thought.

Donghyuck tightens his grip on his hand faintly, a gentle reassurance.

“As could you.”

Mark knows that it’s not really the truth but finds himself relaxing, knowing that he would already be dead if Donghyuck hadn’t found him half-parched next to the water, giving him spring water all the while trying to intimidate him by revealing his small, rounded teeth.

It was only fitting that the same sprite who had given him life would take it.

“I never thought I would see you again,” Mark admits, chest tight. When his father had returned to the village a troop had been sent to kill Donghyuck, and while his mother had told him that the sprite had been long gone by the time they’d arrived, Mark had still wondered, worried that something else could have happened to him, that Donghyuck would think that he’d betrayed him. “I went looking for you, but I never heard you.”

Donghyuck’s fingers smooth over his.

“Then you weren’t listening.”

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> [twt](https://twitter.com/donkimaki)


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